President Cyril Ramaphosa will make several changes to his cabinet on Monday evening as public anger mounts over record power outages, shoddy government services and rampant poverty. CABINET RESHUFFLE: RAMAPHOSA IS EXPECTED TO MAKE DRASTIC CHANGES It is also expected that he will announce the new electricity minister, including the position of Deputy President. This […]

The US dollars hidden inside a couch on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm were never declared to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) upon entering South Africa, it has been revealed today. Despite claims that SARS requirements had been complied with, the revenue service today confirmed that “the record does not exist and/or cannot […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa will announce the new National Executive on Monday evening, Presidential Spokesperson Vincent Magwenya has announced. Magwenya said this on Sunday during an engagement with media addressing the public discussion, including media coverage, of President Ramaphosa’s schedule and health during the course of this past week. “Having exercised his constitutional prerogative, the President […]

The DA calls on President Ramaphosa to brief the nation and to come clean on exactly what he knew about the corrupt cartels sabotaging Eskom and bleeding the utility dry, says DA Leader John Steenhuisen. Gordhan and Ramaphosa’s security advisor were briefed by De Ruyter News reports today reveal that on 5 July 2022, then-CEO […]

On 1 March, South Africa’s new minimum hourly wage rate came into force, rising 9.6% from R23.19 to R25.42 per hour. This rise is above consumer price inflation (CPI) of 6.9%. But with food inflation rates of 13.4% in January 2023, which affects poor people disproportionately, labour activists at the Casual Workers’ Advice Office (CWAO) […]

This morning, the Constitutional Court – in a unanimous judgement – dismissed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s application for direct access to the Constitutional Court to overturn the Section 89 panel’s report on the Phala Phala scandal… writes John Steenhuisen, Leader of the Democratic Alliance. The report had concluded that there exists prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa […]

Deputy President David Mabuza has resigned as a Member of Parliament (MP) following his request to President Cyril Ramaphosa to resign from his position. He served as Deputy President of South Africa from 2018 and his resignation marks the end of his term. Cabinet reshuffle imminent President Ramaphosa is expected to announce Mabuza’s replacement, along […]

Acting Director-General of Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), Nomonde Mnukwa, says the government has measures in place to ensure that the public purse is protected from corruption and looting during the National State of Disaster-related to the energy crisis. Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, gazetted the regulations for […]

Religion shapes some of the most controversial decisions that governments need to make: access to abortion, same-sex marriage, the death penalty and the legal status of sex work. Indeed, it is likely that most voters across the world consider religion to be essential to their lives. Yet research on religion and political parties remains surprisingly […]

Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra CEO says it is not obliged to reveal details of operations and finances. By Daniel Steyn DA MPs in the Parliamentary Committee for Sports, Arts and Culture are concerned that public funds are being paid to Mzansi National Public Orchestra without sufficient oversight and transparency. The Auditor-General is investigating R41.5-million transferred […]

The office of former US president Jimmy Carter (98), who has been frail for some time, has announced that he will no longer seek hospital treatment for his ailments. He has instead opted for hospice care at his modest home in the rural farming village of Plains, Georgia, close to where he was born. His […]

Consumers will have to tighten their belts even further after the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) announced price increases across the board for all grades of fuel, illuminating paraffin and gas. The increases announced by the DMRE are as follows: Both 93 and 95 petrol will increase by R1.27 Diesel 0.05% sulphur will […]

The Financial Action Task Force has placed South Africa on a list of countries under increased monitoring, commonly known as the grey list after it failed to address all of the shortcomings of money laundering and the financing of terrorism that the task force identified in its 2019 evaluation of the country. The decision has serious […]

Here’s what’s coming up on Carte Blanche this week. You can watch the show on Sunday 26 February in South Africa on DStv Now OR stream it overseas in most countries on Showmax from Tuesday 28 February if you’re abroad. Gearing up for Greatness Tough to break into and even tougher to succeed in, motorcycle racing is […]

The African National Congress (ANC) has responded to former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter’s allegations of widespread corruption at the power utility. In an explosive interview this week, De Ruyter said he raised his concerns with a senior politician – and the response indicated that the ruling party was well aware of the alleged looting. […]

The COVID-19 pandemic worsened the unemployment crisis in South Africa. In the second quarter of 2021, unemployment rates were the highest ever officially recorded. Many people who lost their only source of stable income fell into poverty as a result. Social grants provide income that helps people to survive the short-term economic hardship of unemployment. […]

South Africa’s current electricity crisis has been described as “a perfect storm”. A number of factors have converged to reach this point: an ageing and inadequately maintained fleet of coal power stations, delays in upgrading the Koeberg nuclear power station and significant failures at the recently built Medupi and Kusile coal power stations. Since the […]

Health activists demonstrating in Cape Town for a rise in the tax on sugary drinks were disappointed by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s announcement in his Budget speech that the tax would be frozen for two years. Godongwana said this was “due to the difficult operating environment for the sugar industry from the impact of flooding […]

The City of Cape Town announced this week that the Western Cape High Court has granted its application for eviction notices to be served at “various unlawful occupations in the Central Business District”. The City said it expects a final eviction order to be granted in April. The sites include encampments on Buitengracht Street, FW […]

The City of Cape Town is considering treating up to 39-million litres of essentially raw sewage pumped out to sea daily via three marine outfalls, the first of which was built 122 years ago. The City of Cape Town’s permits to discharge sewage at three marine outfalls, two of them in Marine Protected Areas, have […]

At the Tourism Portfolio Committee today, it was revealed that the three South African Tourism Board members that replaced those who recently resigned have been irregularly appointed by the Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu. “By her own admission, the three resignations were submitted at the beginning of February on a Wednesday and she replaced the resigned Board […]

South Africa is set to have a new deputy president in Paul Shipokosa Mashatile, the deputy president of the governing African National Congress (ANC). He’ll replace the incumbent, David Mabuza, who announced he would step down. Who is Mashatile and what does he bring to the position? Mashatile (61) is a veteran politician from the […]

The South African government is to challenge a Pretoria High Court order that directs Home Affairs to grant asylum to 22 asylum seekers from Afghanistan. Home Affairs minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi blames an American NGO – The Lifeline Foundation – for the High Court’s ruling, and says the NGO is trying to undermine South Africa’s […]

South Africa’s electricity utility Eskom has made it clear that “load shedding” – rolling scheduled power cuts – isn’t going to end any time soon. This reality, and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement during his annual state of the nation speech on 9 February 2023 that tax incentives for solar power use are imminent, means that […]

Eskom has announced that Stage 6 load shedding will be implemented until further notice. This as the power utility has buckled under the pressure of the breakdown of some eight power generation units at power stations and coal supply challenges. “Since Sunday afternoon, a generating unit each at Arnot, Hendrina, Lethabo and Majuba [power stations] […]